All creatures goat and small

GOATS, tortoises and a boxer dog take centre stage when All Creatures Great and Small returns to our screens on Thursday.

- David Stephenson

It will be the fourth series of the popular Channel 5 reboot of the books, which chronicled the life of Yorkshire vet Alf Wight, written under the pen name James Herriot.

The first episode will feature a "brilliant" stunt involving goats, it has been revealed.

Star Nicholas Ralph, who plays James Herriot alongside Sam West as Siegfried Farnon, said: "Two goats go on the loose in Skeldale House, the vets' practice. It's bombastic, it's fun and it's a bit crazy. And it wasn't even my fault they escaped - it was Siegfried's."